Fireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock in London. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press)

Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

Shortlist, open competition, lifestyle. Healing Vibes – the hot springs of Bagno Vignoni in Italy flow out at a temperature of about 49°C. They were appreciated by the Romans for their healing powers, and have been used as therapeutic treatments since the 12th century, under Emperor Federico II. (Photo by Stefano Butturini/Sony World Photography Awards)

In this Thursday, May 25, 2017 photo, Donte, a musician who only gave his first name, straightens out dollar bills on his first day in a brand new Chewbacca costume purchased from eBay for $441, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Donte said he replaced the old one because he wasn't making any money with it. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

A woman is helped out of the wrecked car of a train that derailed at the station of Pioltello Limito, on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, Thursday, January 25, 2018. Italian officials said that the commuter train derailed in northern Italy, killing some people, seriously injuring 10 and trapping others heading into Milan at the start of the work day. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

People react as a Canadian man wearing only a pair of shorts orders a drink from a fast food outlet in Gangneung Curling Centre on day 10 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 19, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Children enjoy a sledge ride past ice swimming fans at the Zalew Zegrzynski lake in Nieporet, Poland, Sunday, February 25, 2018. A cold wave hit Poland with the temperature minus 8 degree Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit) during the day and dropping to minus 16 degree Celsius (3.2 Fahrenheit) in the night in central Poland. (Photo by Alik Keplicz/AP Photo)

Two Girls who managed to evade the police walk away as police on foot and horseback push back to te curd at Park Row, In New York on April 26, 1960, A milling throng of more than 1,000 High students who storned city hall in a Demonstration supporting teachers wage demands. (Photo by AP Photo)